332 THE BIRDS OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



to consist chiefly of water-weeds and aquatic Inverte- 

 brata, which it obtains to a great extent by diving ; 

 but when pressed by frosts these birds take readily 

 to common grasses, corn, and berries, and no doubt 

 eke out their bill of fare with slugs, worms, and 

 such small fishes as they can catch. I personally 

 never found anything inside a Coot but vegetable 

 matter and fragments of freshwater shells. Though 

 the Coot soon becomes very tame on w^aters where 

 it is unmolested and accustomed to the sight of 

 human beings, it is by nature an exceedingly wary 

 bird, from which circumstance all wildfowl like its 

 company, and we have been repeatedly baulked in 

 our attempts to get within shot of various species of 

 Ducks by the vigilance of these sooty sentinels. The 

 Coot, though heavy in appearance, is an exceedingly 

 active bird, swims buoyantly and fast, and in the 

 length and rapidity of its dives almost equals the 

 Grebes ; and although on rising from the water it 

 scratches the surface with its toes, leaving a long 

 " wake," is capable of strong and protracted flight ; 

 indeed, some authors state that Coots frequently 

 indulge in nocturnal aerial evolutions over and 

 around their haunts. Be this as it may, I have often 

 heard the loud and peculiar whistle of this species 

 overhead after dark. On dry land Coots are good 

 walkers and runners, and progress over soft mud with 

 the greatest ease ; they also can and often do climb 

 thick bushes, and sometimes roost therein at a con- 

 siderable height from the ground. The nest is a 

 large mass of broken reeds and other water-plants, 

 generally situated near the fringe of a thick reed-bed 

 or amidst a dense growth of flags and rushes, and 

 when its foundations actually rest upon the water, is 



